Undergarment with attached article carrying harness



Sept. 14, 1954 D. G. SBARRA ETAL UNDERGARMENT WITH ATTACHED ARTICLE CARRYING HARNESS Filed Jan. 30, 1953 llllllll V V I WW I l VV I V I Z Ill? INVENTOR.

DOMI/V/C cweaL lys M. saqeed,

Patented Sept. 14, 1954 UNITED STATS E ATNT ()FFICE UNDERGARMENT WITH ATTACHED ARTICLE CARRYING HARNESS Dominic 'G.,Sbarra and Caroline M. Sharra, Ossining, N. Y.

Application January 30, 1953, Serial No. 334,204

2 Claims. 1

This invention relates to means for carrying small articles on the body in an inconspicuous manner and more particularly to an article carrying harness attached to an undergarment for carrying an object, such as a hearing aid battery and transmitter unit.

It is among the objects of the invention to provide an article carrying harness of light Weight construction which can be stitched or otherwise secured to an undergarment, such as a 'T-sl1irt, so that it is automatically put .on and taken off with the undergarment; which includes a pocket for receiving a small object, such as a hearing aid unit; which is comfortable to wear and inconspicuous when worn beneath an outer garment; which is elastic and adjustable to eliminate the possibility of discomfort in its use; which supports the hearing aid unit at a location for most efiicient reception; and which is simple and durable in construction, economical to manufacture, effective and efiicient in use, and neat and attractive in appearance.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the following description and the appended claims in conjunction with the accompanying drawing wherein:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a human figure model wearing an undergarment and article carrying harness combination illustrative of the invention;

Figure 2 is a perspective view similar to Figure 1, but showing the back of the model, whereas Figure 1 shows the front;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary cross sectional view on an enlarged scale on the line 3-3 of Figure 1; and

Figure 4 is a fragmentary perspective view on an enlarged scale showing structural details of a belt constituting an operative component of the harness.

With continued reference to the drawing, the garment illustrated is an undergarment ordinarily referred to as a T-shirt including a body portion I ll for covering the torso of a wearer and provided with a neck opening I I for the wearers neck, and short sleeves I2 and I3 for the wearers arms.

The article carrying harness is formed of suitable fabric tape preferably stitched to the undergarment, although it may be otherwise secured to the undergarment without exceeding the scope of the invention. The harness includes a belt I 4 attached to the garment in position to extend around the torso of the wearer, and an article receiving pocket I5 mounted at its bottom end on the belt M in position relative to the belt and the undergarment to which the belt is attached, such that it will be positioned substantially at the center of the front of the torso of the wearenas illustrated in Figure 1.

Shoulder straps I6 and I! are attached at their front ends to the .belt I4 at respectively opposite sides of the pocket l5, and are also attached to the corresponding edges of (the pocket along the portion of the pocket extending .upwardly from the belt. At their rear ends these shoulder straps are attached to the belt at spaced apart locations along the belt with the rear end of each strap attached to the belt at a location spaced from the same side of the pocket It at which the front end of .the same strap is disposed, and these straps are adapted to extend one over each shoulder of the wearer.

Brace straps E18 and 1.9 are connected .at their front ends to the shoulder straps l6 and I! respectively, the front end of each brace strap being connected to the front portion of the corresponding shoulder strap at a location adjacent to, .butspaced from the pocket 15, and the rear ends of .the brace straps I16 and is are attached to the belt M at locations near the rear ends of the corresponding shoulder straps and disposed between the rear and front ends of the corresponding shoulder straps.

The pocket I5 has a back wall 20 of substantially rectangular shape secured along its bottom edge to the belt I4 and along its side edges to the adjacent edges of the front portions of the shoulder straps I 6 and I I and has a front wall 2| of somewhat heavier material than the back wall disposed in overlying relationship to the back wall 20. It has side walls 22 and 23 of elastic material, so that the pocket can stretch to receive articles of somewhat different sizes, and has a bottom wall 24 connected along its side edges to the back and front walls of the pocket above the bottom end of the pocket, this bottom wall having a width greater than the unexpanded thickness of the pocket, so that its portion between its side edges normally extends downwardly from the side edges, as illustrated in Figure 3.

The ends of the belt are disposed to one side of the pocket I5 and a plurality of eyelets 25 are provided in one end portion of the belt at 10- cations spaced apart longitudinally of the belt and medially of the width thereof. A loop 26 of doubled, elastic webbing is secured to the other end of the belt and a hook 21 is engaged in the loop 26 at the end of the loop remote from the corresponding end of the belt and this hook is selectively engageable in the eyelets 25 to provide an adjustable connection between the two ends of the belt. The elasticity of the loop 26 also provides for expansion and contraction of the belt during movements of the wearers body, so that the belt does not offer any uncomfortable restriction to body movements.

As explained above, the pocket 15 is of a size to closely receive a small article, such as a battery and transmission unit 30 of a hearing aid, this unit being positioned substantially at the center of the front of the torso of the wearer where its reception is most efficient, and a flexible conductor 3| extends from the unit 30 to an earphone 32 mounted in the ear of the wearer.

With this arrangement, the hearing aid unit 30 is supported in an entirely comfortable manner on the body of the wearer and at the best location for efficient reception of sound. By attaching the harness directly to the undergarment, the wearer is freed from any bother or trouble in using a separate harness and connecting and adjusting the harness parts when putting it on, since, with the present invention the harness is automatically put on and taken off with the undergarment. When it becomes necessary to launder the undergarment the entire harness may be removed, if desired, or the pocket alone may be removed or, the harness and pocket may be left in place on the garment and laundered therewith, since the harness is formed of fabric tapes and fabric webbing and will not be damaged in any way by being laundered.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiment is, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are, therefore, intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination with an undergarment, an article carrying harness attached to said undergarment and including a belt adapted to extend around the torso of a person wearing the garment, an article carrying pocket having the lower end carried by said belt and positioned to be disposed substantially at the center of the front of the torso of a person wearing the garment, and shoulder straps attached at their ends to said belt at respectively opposite sides of said pocket and adapted to extend over the shoulders of the wearer of the garment.

2. In combination with an undergarment, an article carrying harness attached to said undergarment and including a belt adapted to extend around the torso of a person wearing the garment, an article carrying pocket mounted on said belt and positioned to be disposed substantially at the center of the front of the torso of a person wearing the garment, and shoulder straps attached at their ends to said belt at respectively opposite sides of said pocket and adapted to extend over the shoulders of the wearer of the garment, said pocket having a back wall, a front wall disposed in overlying relationship to the back wall, a bottom wall connected between said back and front walls and having a width greater than the unexpanded thickness of said pocket, and side walls of elastic material providing for expansion of said pocket to receive articles of different sizes.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 802,765 London Oct. 24, 1905 811,505 Johnson Jan. 30, 1906 911,204 Busby Feb. 2, 1909 1,137,541 Schweinburg Apr. 27, 1915 2,503,847 Shanahan Apr. 11, 1950 2,575,605 Vandercook Nov. 20, 1951 

